Richmond’s nightmare AFL season sank further into the mire on Friday night when they lost to a dramatically-undermanned Hawthorn by 46 points.
The three-time defending premiers were missing four of their best players through injury – captain Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell, Jarryd Roughead and James Frawley.
Coming off last week’s 75-point mauling from GWS, the Hawks belted Richmond in the last term with nine goals to three and won 21.10 (136) to 13.12 (90).
It is Richmond’s sixth-straight loss.
The Tigers showed strong signs of life, leading by 12 points midway through the third term.
But Hawthorn first wrested control of the match from them and then blitzed the Tigers, kicking 12 of the last 15 goals in another bitter disappointment for Richmond.
The Hawks suffered a massive blow pre-match, with Mitchell a late withdrawal.
Their best player so far this season was ruled out with a corked calf and second-gamer Kieran Lovell took his place.
It meant this was the first time since Alastair Clarkson took over as coach in 2005 that his side did not feature Roughead, Mitchell and Hodge.
This was also only the second time since 2001 that Hodge and Mitchell were out of the side at the same time.
Coming off another week of fierce scrutiny, the Tigers predictably came out hard.
Nick Vlastuin kicked the first goal of the game in the opening 20 seconds and within seven minutes they had another two.
But Luke Breust kicked the next three and three more to the Hawks gave them a 16-point lead early in the second term.
It set the tone for the match, with first one side and then the other kicking a brace of goals.
When the game was up for the taking, the Hawks went up a gear and Richmond could not go with them.
Breust kicked three more in the last quarter, giving him six for the game, while defender Josh Gibson and utility Cyril Rioli also starred for Hawthorn.
Dustin Martin was the Tigers’ best and was probably best afield until three-quarter time.
AB
Guest
I'd forgotten about the margin in the Grand Final also being 46 points. That is an extraordinary (if fundamentally meaningless) coincidence. But I'll be happy if the Hawks win every game they play for the remainder of the season by either 3 or 46 points!
Penster
Guest
Of the last 6 wins by Hawthorn - including the grand final, the margin has been either 46 or 3 points. Grandfinal WCE: 46 Round 2 WCE: 46 Rounds 3,4 5: 3 Round 7: 46 Against Richmond, Hawks had 5 players with 10 games or less, including 2 debutantes (over 2 weeks) and 3 players with under 40 games. Missing stalwarts Hodge, Roughy, Mitchell, Frawley (960 games combined). Don't think there's a 4Thorn coming (my early season prediction was a WCEvFreo grand final tho!), but like Geelong and Sydney, the slide doesn't look so steep, and will be well cushioned as the stars are rested/injured/retired.
AB
Guest
Not sure that this game told us a whole lot about either team, but both can take some positives out of it. Hawthorn probably had the least experienced team they've put on the park for years, through necessity rather than choice. And although they blew Richmond away when the game opened up in the final quarter, the Tigers had pushed them hard for thee quarters and looked the better team for long stretches of the game. I've watched a few Richmond games this year and last night was definitely one of their better efforts. They moved the ball well at times and made very few unforced turnovers or 'clangers'. And their endeavour was excellent. Hopefully they're starting to pull out of the rut they've been in so far this year. As for Hawthorn, at this stage of the year all they need to do is keep racking up wins. There's no point in being the May champions. The only thing that really matters is ladder position and form come the first week of September. By that score, Hawthorn is doing as well they need to do in early May. With the draw really softening up for them now, they can probably get away with playing at 80% and still end up being well-entrenched in the top six - if not the top four - by mid-season. The big question, which none of us will know until September, is whether they can still lift their game to a level that's 5-10 goals better than everyone else, or whether the standard we're seeing from them now is the new normal for Hawthorn.